Zagustin house now in move-in condition

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON HARBOUR -- After all the residents of Morse Circle suffered

through because of Elena Zagustin, they can’t help but be hopeful about

the retired couple who are moving into the messy professor’s former home.

“We’re kind of excited to give them a try,” said next-door neighbor

Raymond Goulette. “I’m sure they’ll be a lot better than what we had.”

The pair, Neville and Anna Belle Radcliffe, have lived about four blocks

away for the past nine years. They used to stroll around the

neighborhood, and they remember walking past the notoriously filthy home.

“It smelled from the outside,” said Anna Belle, 69.

Zagustin, a former civil engineering professor at Cal State Long Beach,

never seemed to mind. Mounds of trash, tattered clothing, bruised boxes

and old broken furniture covered every room.

“I can’t understand why she did what she did,” said Neville, 72.

It got so bad that her neighbors sued Zagustin for turning her home into

a public health hazard. They won, and the court ordered the forced sale

of the property in July to pay off the judgment.

Scooping up the fixer-upper for about $300,000 was a group of investors

specializing in refurbishing property. They had their work cut out for

them, and the home appears brand new after months of cleaning, repairing

and remodeling.

The Radcliffes paid close to $500,000 for the home. They plan to move

later this month and enjoy their retirement in peace and quiet -- with no

surprise visits from Zagustin.

“If she tries to make any trouble, of course I’ll call the police,”

Neville said.

Since September, Zagustin has kept a low profile, and for good reason.

There are two warrants out for her arrest that relate back to violations

of health and safety standards from the time she lived in the house. The

threat of incarceration has kept her from collecting the $50,000 left

over for her at West Justice Center in Westminster from the foreclosure

sale, officials said.

She reportedly was poking around in November, when a Huntington Beach

police officer wrote her a ticket for a broken headlight. But the officer

didn’t run a warrant check, which allowed her to escape.

Some suspect she’s now hiding in Las Vegas, where part of her belongings

are kept in storage.

As far as the Radcliffes are concerned, everyone is making a big deal out

of nothing.

“I’m surprised at just how interested people are in all this,” Anna Belle

said. “It’s just a house.”